“You’d better stop whatever you think you’re doing. I look out for her you know!” And Draco had stepped forward, till he was eye to eye with Harry, standing not a hair’s breadth away. “I look out for her too.” DHr

Lavender
was right. She had exceeded her weekly ration of one shower. Her next
turn would be in five days. No one was above this rule, created to
save their badly needed resources. Not even the 'best friend of his
holy-frickin Majesty, Harry Potter'.

She
knew all of this, but still, she did not care. She needed so much to
feel the cleansing water flow over her, to feel its cool touch wash
away her dirt, her grime, and everything that had built up after her
last mission. She felt dirty from her contact with this world, and
tired, so tired. It had even got to the point where she felt loathe
to touch her bed or any of her possessions, fearing that her body
contaminated everything around her. It was insensible and illogical,
she knew, but she couldn't help but want that one, tiny shower.

Just
one, one more, she found herself whispering and almost chanting to
Lavender, the Shower Nazi from hell. But Lavender was resolute. It
was not fair, she argued. You've had your turn.

That
bitch. Hermione seethed silently, furiously. That absolute bitch who
was not good for anything else other than this bloody stupid useless
job, who stood there in all her shower glory while people who
actually contributed to the Cause had to go out there, day after day,
and get soiled and contaminated from all the blood, all the screams,
all the death, the crucios, the sweat, fear, and disgust that came
from being under the glare of the evil one, of
He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named…the one whom Hermione never had any
trouble saying his name till today, till he had cast his terrifying
red eyes on her, smiling his malevolent smile, full of yellow
decaying teeth, and licked his lips. Till she had barely escaped his
oily decaying touch on her long hair and neck, as she screamed from
the pain and the crucio and the blood, sweat, grime, dirt, diseased,
oily knarled hands with boils and yellowed fingernails feeling like
snake skin and disease and…

She
was slowly becoming more and more horrified on the spot, eyes wide
and unseeing, fists clenched, as the scene replayed itself over and
over in her head. No, she told herself, revolted, his fingernails did
not rake into her scalp; it was only the hair…an insidious voice
argued, then why did her scalp hurt so? Why did her fingers come away
with blood when she combed through her hair? Blood from other curses!
She shrieked inwardly. Blood from when her hair was pulled! Nothing
more! But didn't you feel it? That evil voice whispered again. Feel
his terrible yellow nails dig into your scalp, bringing his evilness
into her bloodstream, infecting her, contaminating her, you're
turning into him! Evil like him where you stand! Did you not feel
anything when you Crucio-ed Goyle as you fled out with the others?
Goyle, that stupid doorkeeper who didn't know left from right and
probably wouldn't know how to repel a properly cast Stupefy or
Rictusempra or Expelliamus even if he was hit point blank in the
face?

Lavender
was shouting at her, and she could hear people behind her muttering
angrily about how she was wasting their valuable showering time when
suddenly she heard an achingly familiar voice from her left.

"She
can have my shower ration." Hermione turned, shocked as Draco
Malfoy told Lavender to strike off his name on the list.

"But
Malfoy!" Lavender complained, "She's already had her shower for
this week, and she's not allowed another one till next!"

"What
does it matter?" Malfoy said, coldly, "There's no difference if
she or I have the shower, it's still the same amount of water used
right? I'll just wait for my turn next week."

Hermione
turned, still shocked, to stare at Malfoy and to offer a feeble,
"Thanks".

"No
problem", he replied gruffly, "I have no need for such fripperies
like showering, a simple Scourgify will do for me."

He
walked away without another word, and Hermione walked forward to her
much-needed shower. As the water fell over her head, her hair, and
her body, washing away the day's trials, and evils, she spared a
thought for the golden haired Draco, shivering as she imagined the
cool water flowing past the curves of her body to be his long,
sensual fingers, soothing her and cleansing her in ways that water
never could.

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